Thomas Struth

These are more pictures by Thomas Struth.

He photographs people looking at famous art work....

The facial expressions that he captures from people looking at art are very interesting and full of emotions. One can almost tell what they are thinking...

"Just a Casual Visit to the Dentist"

Thomas Struth

I saw Thomas Struth's show in Düsseldorf Germany when it was "night of the museums".
Night of the museums is an event in Duesseldorf where all the museums are open till 12 at night and while going threw the museums, people are allowed to buy food and wine in the facilities and often they even have bands plying live music or a Dj.
This even brings old and young together and allows the people to go for 12 euros in any museum they like.
http://www.nacht-der-museen.de/

Thomas Struth's show began with his gigantic pictures of the jungle and forest.

These pictures usually covered half the wall and made the viewer feel as if they were in the jungle themselves, instead of just looking at a photograph. Due to the size and the vivid colours it felt very realistic and overwhelming.

The show continued with pictures of complex technological facilities that were not as gigantic as the jungle pictures but still were very large.
The interesting thing about these pictures where the colours. For these pictures he claimed to not have used photoshop, to manipulate and make the colours more intense and vibrant.

Here a picture of a harbour....

The show ended with large different sized pictures of families from different countries taken over a time span of 20 years.

Due to the position of the people and surrounding, the pictures look very simple and clean. You understood the family structure and got a sense of there personalities.

I probably spent the most time in this part of the show, because I was looking at every person and tried to figure out, what sort of characters they were and how they lived as a family.

Andreas Gursky

Andreas Gursky is a famous german photographer and lives in my home town "Düsseldorf".

He is best known for his famous pictures of the New York time square. His daughter is a very good friend of mine, therefore I have met Andreas on many occasions and have seen lots of his work

 

                                                                   

Hope you enjoy it as much as I do :)

David Lachapelle

David Lachapelle

This is one of my favourite photographers who not only takes amazing pictures but who also makes music videos for famous musicians like Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Elton John.
His pictures are often very provocative, colourful and sexual.

Amanda Lapore

                                                                  Christina Aguilera

The first time I saw his work was about 5 years ago in a museum exclusively for photography. He showed pictures of Amanda Lapore, a very famous transgender public figure, that was his muse for many of his pictures and ideas.

By Howell Conant

By Richard Avedon

Jacob Israel Avedon

The picture that I chose for my contemporary picture was the last picture of a sequence.

The camera is following every step. the pictures does not try to idealize youth and flawless flesh. It shifts the focus to the sad reality of age and infirmity

Historical Photograph

Famous Portraits by L. Fritz Gruber (Editor)

For my historical photograph I chose a book that depicts a collection of portraits of famous people. This quote from the introduction explains, why I chose portraits:

“There is no doubt that the picture of a human being has always been, and still is, of the greatest interest to his fellow men. No image of any other kind will convey so much to the viewer.”

After having opened this book and read what the author had to say about portraits, I knew this had to be my topic. I chose a picture by Howell Conant of the American film actress Grace Kelly. This picture fascinated me because of its simple, direct beauty and its magical surrounding. Knowing that Grace always loved out door sports it reflects a part of her personality and shows her humanness.

By using an interesting depth of field, the photographer wants the viewer to focus on Grace Kelly’s face, which stresses her natural beauty and youth. The background on the other hand is very blurry but still recognizable and shows a calm lake in the mountains. 

Contemporary Photograph

The Century of the Body by William A. Ewing

For my contemporary photograph I also wanted to use a portrait to maintain my subject. Here another quote from the introduction, which made me choose this picture.

“We are beginning to think of the bodies we inhabit in much the same way we do the cloths we wear- as changeable according to climate, task, fashion and whim.”

The portrait I chose by Richard Avedon shows his father, who is an old man that is sliding towards death. The facial expression of the man is filled with pain and marked by a long life.

By using a white background the viewer can only concentrates on the person that is shown and is not distracted by anything else.

The photographer does not try to manipulate the picture, or make it more beautiful. He clearly wants to show the truth of age and what a long hard live does to our body.

Today age is linked to money. The more one has, the less evidence one can see that the body is aging.

Typology of Lethbridge's Gates

Gates

Gates

Gates

Gates

Gates

Gates